Grandmaster cartography guide
Overview The cartography titles are gained per character by exploring the primary map of each continent. Any area viewable when viewing the world map counts towards the title. This includes the following: * Explorable areas * Mission zones (cooperative, challenge, and competitive) * Arenas not on the Battle Isles * Towns and Outposts It does not include any area that does not update the world map. This includes the following: * Pre-Searing Ascalon * Dragon's Lair * The Underworld * The Fissure of Woe * Ruins of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings * Sorrow's Furnace * Dragon's Throat (Mission) * Elite Missions To gain the grandmaster cartographer title, a character does not need to explore every single point on the map. Some margin of error is allowed. As a result, even though some characters may never be able to access some portions of the map, they may still earn 100% explored. Unreachable zones would most likely be arenas that have been rendered inaccessible due to a game update (such as Fort Koga) or due to level limits (such as the Shing Jea Arena) but may also be training areas for characters local to the continent (such as Monastery Overlook). Again, these zones do count towards those who revealed them, but they do not make it impossible for those who cannot to obtain the grandmaster title. General Tips * Working towards the grandmaster cartographer title will most likely require you to revisit every zone on the continent. Small, trivial regions of map can be revealed by 'scraping' (hugging the wall of) the edges of the zones. While each of these regions may seem small and insignificant, they easily add up to entire percentages towards the title. * Do not neglect towns and outposts. Some areas of the map can only be revealed by scraping the edges of larger towns, outposts, and mission heads. Often, large portions of the map may be uncovered by exploring an empty but accessible part of town. * Events in missions may often open up areas previously inaccessible. Keep track of opening doors and dropping bridges, especially in missions that enforce some time constraint. * Running skills may greatly expediate the mapping process, as it takes much longer to fight everything that comes across your path compared to running past it. * If stumpted, search online for maps posted by those who have reached grandmaster. Compare them with yours to fine detail for differences along edges. Some related forums may provide support to help look. Specific Hints These are specific areas commonly missed by cartographers. Tyria * After the timer starts during The Great Northern Wall, the entire Charr camp can be explored. The western road from which Charr come at you while approaching the bridge can also be used to reveal all the map between the mission area and Piken Square. * During The Frost Gate, you can use either of the necromancer skills Necrotic Traversal or Consume Corpse to reach the road used by Rurik. This requires either 1) pulling an ice golem to kill one of Rurik's guards or 2) killing a snow wolf near a bridge around where the bonus is to provide a corpse to teleport to. Watch out, as towards the end, an ever-growing series of spawns appears (that usually kill off Rurik if you take too long at the end of the mission). Also during the end of the mission, a door opens up allowing access to the southeastern corner of the mission area. * The southern tip of Lion's Arch can reveal some of the coastline. * The Wilds has a large northern area that was largely ignored until the arrival of Totem Axes. * The western and northern edges of the Henge of Denravi can reveal some map. * The mobs that come after you at the end of Sanctum Cay come from densly populated shorlines. Stay as far from the dock as possible to delay furthering the mission to explore these areas. * The coastline of Amnoon Oasis can be explored. * A bridge at the end of Dunes of Despair may be crossed in spite of its appearance of being drawn up. * The northeastern corner of Talus Chute can be explored by climbing hills along the eastern edge between the Icedome and Ice Caves of Sorrow. * Delay talking to the king at the end of Thunderhead Keep to explore the surrounding area. * Warping during the cinematics of Hell's Precipice may cause some areas of the map to be unexplored. Backtrack to reveal them. Cantha * All the optional missions except Dragon's Throat allow you to explore small amounts of the map inaccessible by the surrounding zones. * Some doors in Zen Daijun open when entering the explorable. * Tahnnakai Temple has a large northern region open for the explorable but inaccessible during the mission. * Don't forget to scrape the edges when banished during the Imperial Sanctum mission. Category:Strategy guides